Written by Mr. Kunal Sawhney, CEO, Kalkine Media
In a bid to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and expedite the progress for reaching the net zero target by 2050, the government of the United Kingdom has been continuously supplementing various existing measures with new plans of action that can comprehensively help in diminishing the overall carbon footprint across the widespread geography.
For effectively counterbalancing the gross carbon emissions in the UK, a thorough support is required from the industries, enterprises, large-scale corporations, government-run settings, passenger vehicles, manufacturing facilities, commercial vehicles and aircrafts. As the Downing Street administration continues to scale down the dependency on coal-fired electricity, it is also incorporating several measures that can certainly turn very effective after a period of 5-10 years from now.
Following the ongoing research around carbon neutral planes that are being designed to harness energy from liquid hydrogen, people would be able to fly on longer routes through carbon emission free planes with just one stop for the purpose of refuelling the jet.
The Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) on Monday, 6 December, showcased the concept aircraft, equipped with liquid hydrogen. The ATI-led FlyZero project has developed the concept aircraft that will be powered by liquid nitrogen. The mid-size carbon neutral jet has a seating capacity of 279 individuals, it can operate on long distances including London to San Francisco and Lonon to Auckland by taking a single layover for refuelling.
Zero carbon emissions from the plane will unequivocally make it very popular right after the initial commercial runs, while it will help in reducing the pollution around the airports as Heathrow remains one of the busiest airports in the world.
Commercialisation of such planes can certainly provide strength to the government’s ultimate objective of reducing the carbon emissions in the upcoming decades.
With the industries increasingly committing to reduce the net emissions from their operations, including the extensive supply chain networks and other processes, it becomes very crucial that the country should make proportionately similar progress across all the carbon-heavy processes including the commercial vehicles segment and industrial emissions.
Under the ongoing green energy revolution, the UK government has already fixed ambitious targets of banning the sale of petrol and diesel powered passenger vehicles by the end of 2030. With the nature and scope of Covid-19, rapidly emerging strains and persisting uncertainty in the operative environment, the pace of technological advancements has been partly hit, while, on the other hand, many individual entities are progressing very aggressively. Alongside achieving industry-wide breakthroughs in several state-of-the-art capabilities and a number of innovations that are touted to ease the pain of conventional processes, effectively streamlining the complexities.
As far as developing the sustainable aviation fuel is concerned, eight corporations have secured an approval from the government’s £15 million competition aimed to introduce aircrafts that can be operated on clean energy. The shortlisted winners in the project are entitled to receive a definitive proportion from the multi-million pound funding to the tune of £15 million. The Department for Transport (DfT) will remain responsible for giving the go-ahead on funding agreements.
The Jet Zero Council has been working religiously towards the predetermined objectives with the FlyZero project displaying the huge potential of liquid nitrogen. Introducing more and more midsize emission-free aircrafts in the British fleet for domestic, as well as international usage, most of the flight operators will be able to transform and rejig the fleet efficiency when it comes to the gross emissions from the planes operating on air turbine fuel.
The Jet Zero Council has aimed to deliver carbon neutral transatlantic flight within a generation, effectively contributing in the road to net zero according to the Prime Minister’s Ten Point plan. Along with the aim of delivering emission free aircrafts, the department has been working to introduce a low-carbon fuel that can be utilised by the airlines. Produced from waste materials, sustainable aviation fuel will certainly help in decarbonising the flying experience.